USA > Colorado > Sketches of Colorado: being an analytical summary and biographical history of the State of Colorado as portrayed in the lives of the pioneers, the founders, the builders, the statesmen, and the prominent and progressive citizens Vol. 1 > Part 34
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Dr. Oscar D. Cass (q. v.) the father of the subject of this sketch, was one of the pio- neers of Colorado, and an eminent physician.
Oscar D. Cass Jr. attended the public schools of Denver, including the east Denver high school and then spent one year in the Lawrenceville school, Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He was for a time a student at Princeton university, but only took part of the course, returning to attend to the busi- ness affairs of the family. Mr. Cass organ- ized the Colorado Brick Supply company, which at one time controlled a large portion of the brick business of the city. His father dying in 1894, and as the various properties belonging to the Cass estate incurred work and management too arduous for his widow, the O. D. Cass Investment Company was formed which included valuable business properties, among which is the Cass & Gra- ham block at Sixteenth and Curtis streets. Mr. Cass retired from the brick business in 1907, and became president of the O. D. Cass Investment Company.
In 1909 Edward A. Bishop, another native son of Colorado, formed a partnership with him in the real estate business, more for the purposeof protecting their own properties than engaging generally in that line of oper- ation, in an extensive manner. The Bishop-
Cass Investment Company was incorporated and Mr. Cass made president, which posi- tiou he holds at the present time. The com- pany controls and manages many business blocks in the commercial center of the city, including the Foster building, Mercantile building, Cass and Graham block, Riche Scholtz corner, Guldman, and many other blocks.
Mr. Cass has been the active head of the playground work of the city, and is at the present time treasurer of the Denver Play- ground Association. He is also a member of the playground commission appointed by the park board and the school board. Much of his time has been spent in behalf of the public, and he is a member of most of the several organizations devoted to charitable and philanthropic work in this city. He has never held any political office, and, although sev- eral times requested to run for office, has always declined to permit the use of his name in that connection. Upon two occa- sions, he was urged to run for election as a member of the Denver school board, but his many other duties deterred him from con- sidering the proposition.
Mr. Cass is a member of the principal clubs, including the Denver Club, Denver Country Club, Denver Athletic Club, and the Gentlemen's Driving and Riding Club. He is also a member of the Real Estate Ex- change and others of the leading commer- cial and business organizations of the city, and is prominent in its social life. His fa- vorite recreation is polo, being one of the most active of the members of the Country Club team.
Mr. Cass married, at Colorado Springs, May 26, 1902, Maude, daughter of Benn Brewer of Colorado Springs. They have two children : Dorothy Marie Cass, eight years of age, and Oscar David Cass III., five years old.
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FREDERICK DEARBORN WIGHT.
WIGHT, FREDERICK DEARBORN, banker, stockman, real estate and financier, born in Windsor, Kenebee county, Maine, June 18, 1837, died in Denver, Colo- rado, May 23, 1911, was the son of Joseph (born in Monmouth, Maine, July 7, 1787) and Mary (Merrill of Lewiston, Maine) Wight. The family name is from the Isle of Wight, from which his ancestors came.
He and his sons were among the first con- tributors to the founding of Harvard Col- lege, and also first in subscribing and levy- ing a tax for the first free school in Dedham. Thomas Wight was accompanied to this coun- try by two sons, of whom Henry, the elder, the great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was the first municipal officer of Dedham ; also a magistrate under the gen-
FREDERICK DEARBORN WIGHT
The Wights were a colonial family, promi- nent in the history of that period. The line of Descent of Frederick D. Wight, extends back in the paternal line through Joseph, Timothy, Jonathan, Jr., Jonathan, Sr., Henry, to Thomas Wight, the American progenitor, who came with his wife, Elsie, from the Isle of Wight to this country, about 1630. Thomas was one of twelve authorized to found the town of Dedham, Massachusetts.
eral court, and died February 27, 1680. Joseph, father of Frederick D. Wight, mar- ried Mary Merrill, and his father, Timothy Wight, married Sarah Fisher. Timothy was the son of Jonathan, Jr., who married Jem- ima Whiting. Jonathan, Sr., married Eliz- abeth Haws. He was the son of Henry, who married Jane Goodenow, and his parents were Thomas and Elsie Wight, the original immigrants. Joseph Wight was a soldier in
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the War of 1812; his father, Timothy, a sol- dier in the American Revolution, and others of the Wight family participated in King Philip's war, and other Indian wars of the colonies.
Frederick D. Wight worked on the farm and attended the public schools until six- teen years of age, and then entered the Maine Liberal Institute at Litchfield, for three terms, afterward teaching school and clerking in stores. He then became a com- mercial traveler in Canada, for a large Bos- ton firm.
On July 5, 1864, when the news reached him that his brother, William L., had been killed in the battle before Petersburg (Fred- erick's wife dying twelve days after), he enlisted as a private soldier, although he had at that time a substitute in the union army. Soon afterward, a captain's commis- sion was offered him by the governor, which he refused, but consented to accept a first lieutenant's commission, which was given him October 27, 1864, in Company A, First Battalion, Maine Volunteer Sharpshooters. He commauded the company from December 1, 1864, as a lieutenant, until it was mus- tered out. He saw service at City Point, Virginia, and in January, 1865, was ordered to Petersburg, and attached to the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. Lieutenant Wight participated in the siege operations against Petersburg; was at Dabney's Mills and Hatcher's Run, and in the Appomattox cam- paign ; saw service at the junction of Quaker and Boydton Roads, Lewis Farm, White Oak Road, Five Forks, Amelia Court House, High Bridge; witnessed the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox, participated in the grand review at Washington, and was honorably discharged from the service, May 29, 1865.
Once, when referring to the surrender of General Lee, Lieutenant Wight spoke of it as follows: "I had the pleasure that day of being in line with my company, and wit- nessed the tattered remnant of Lee's veter- ans stack their arms and deposit their worn and ragged, but cherished banners. The ranks of Lee's army were so decimated that their division and brigade colors were nearer together than our regimental flags. One color bearer, who stood directly before me, hugged closely, with his one remaining arm, his bullet-scarred staff upon which still re- mained a piece of a flag. I can see that man now with his old, patched, ragged, faded butternuit snit, his lank but erect body, his long sandy hair, his pinched, famished face,
struggling to restrain his tears. But re- strain them he could not; and they were not unmanly tears-they did him honor."
After the war, Mr. Wight resumed his employment with the Boston firm, until 1873, and in that year located and stocked the Travesia ranch, in New Mexico, with sheep. In 1874, he made Trinidad, Colorado, his home, becoming interested in the First Na- tional Bank of that place until 1882, and of which he was president. He was also inter- ested in the Trinidad Gas and Electric Com- pany, the Trinidad Electric Light, Heat and Power Company, the city water company, and valuable real estate. He prospered in the cattle and sheep business, and especially in the latter. His rauch in New Mexico cov- ered an area of ten by thirty miles, and his wool clippings in 1885 amounted to 150,000 pounds. Up to the time of his death he owned and controlled 82,000 acres in Texas, also large ranches in Colorado and New Mexico, upon which grazed many thousands of sheep and cattle, and became one of the leading stockmen of the west. During the past twelve years he made Denver his resi- dence, investing heavily in real estate in that city, as well as high class securities, gradu- ally disposing of his ranches and stock. In 1888, his name was prominently mentioned for the gubernatorial nomination at the re- publican state convention. Mr. Wight was a Mason, a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and the Sons of the Revo- lution. He married, first, at Lewiston, Maine, April 23, 1863, Sarah Ann (born at Windsor, October 18, 1846, died July 17, 1864), dangh- ter of Henry Milliken and Harriet, danghter of Benjamin Hewitt of Windsor. She was educated in the Maine State Seminary, now Bates College. She was a lady of many accomplishments.
Mr. Wight married, second, August 1, 1872, at Low Moor, Clinton county, Iowa, Mary Abby, born at Winthrop, Maine, March 5, 1853, danghter of Joseph and Hannah (Robinson) Briggs, of old and prominent Quaker stock. Mrs. Wight attended the High School at Lynn, Massachusetts, the home of her widowed mother, and later was a student at the Friends' boarding school at Providence. Mrs. Wight is a lady of broad and liberal culture.
Mr. Wight is survived by his widow and seven children, the latter being: Mrs. Harry Quine of Denver; Mrs. Joseph S. Davis of Denver; Ernest Wight, Denver; Mark Wight, New Mexico; George Wight, Ocean Park, California; Mrs. Charles McMillan, Spokane, Washington, and Fred L. Wight, New Mexico.
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EDWARD BELL FIELD
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EDWARD BELL FIELD.
FIELD, EDWARD BELL, telephone busi- ness and financier, son of James Barker and Eliza Ann (Bell) Field, was born Sep- tember 4, 1850, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. His father, born February 3, 1828, who is still living, was formerly manager of the Academy of Music. His mother was the daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Low (French) Bell. In both the paternal and maternal lines, Mr. Field is descended from prominent colonial ancestry. Robert Field, his American progenitor, came from Eng- land, and settled at Odeans Point, near Rye Beach, New Hampshire, about 1623. Edward Bell, his mother's ancestor, of English stock, located in Boston about 1709, and donated the ground on which the English high school of Boston is located.
Mr. Field attended the public schools in Chelsea, until fifteen years of age, gradu- ating from the grammar school in 1865. As soon as he was graduated, he went to work with a wholesale woolen firm, and outside regular Boston hours, was employed at the theater business. His odd moments were occupied in learning practical things, in which he became interested, and later espe- cially, in the mechanism of the telephone. At night he studied biology and the problems of physical and social evolution. Thus early in life he developed an aptitude in search- ing for basic principles, which characterized his business career in after years. He delves into fundamental elements in all matters per- taining to commercial affairs, or matters in which he may be interested. On July 1, 1865, he entered the employ of Eager Bart- lett & Company, in the wholesale woolen business, at Boston, continuing with that firm until November 1, 1879. In the latter year, owing to ill health, he came to Colorado, for the benefit of its lung bracing air, arriving in Denver, November 10. He rapidly recu- perated in this climate, and resumed work, beginning as a telephone operator, January 10, 1880. His early student life, partly self- taught, enabled him, within a few months, to become proficient in electrical scienee, as applied to the telephone service. His ad- vancement was rapid, and after a year, lie was promoted to the position of manager of the operating department of the telephone company for the state of Colorado. Mr. Field was appointed superintendent of the company in 1882, and general manager in 1884, and later the president of the Colo- rado Telephone Company, operating the Bell
telephone for all of Colorado and some adja- cent territory. He also became the head of the American District Telegraph Company, and engaged prominently in other business activities, but everything else was secondary to him but the telephone company. Mr. Field is a master of details, which he hur- riedly grasps, thus enabling him to give more time for the exercise of his wonderful exec- utive ability, his master force that has built up and developed this great telephone sys- tem in the west.
Under his administration, the company expanded, new lines were constructed, the work broadening into contiguous states, until it became necessary to enlarge its corporate powers and work. Recently the company has been reorganized, and is now known as the Mountain States Telephone and Tele- graph Company, of which Mr. Field is presi- dent. Mr. Field has a genius for organiza- tion and the promoting of large enterprises, in which he has always been eminently suc- cessful. He has become one of the leading business men and financiers of the west, yet he is one of those who came to Colorado for his health, and began life in Denver as a telephone operator. He is a member of the Denver Club, of which he was a director, and a member of the executive committee for three years; also a member of the Den- ver Athletic Club, of which he was a director for several years. He is a member of the Denver Country Club, and clubs in other cities throughout the west. He is also prom- inent among the commercial organizations, and has been treasurer of the Denver Cham- ber of Commerce.
Mr. Field married, January 22, 1872, at Newton, Massachusetts, Miss Mary Alice, daughter of William A. and Martha Ann Legge. Mrs. Field is also descended from families prominent in the colonial history of New England, in its earlier period, and later in the war of the American Revolution. Her parents were born in New England, and on the maternal side came from an old line of sturdy and self-reliant Puritan and Quaker stock. Elkena Dyer of Maine, one of the patriots of the Revolution, was her ancestor. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and takes a deep in- terest in patriotic work.
Mr. and Mrs. Field are leaders in the social life of Denver. They have four child- ren : Edward Bell, Jr., May Agnes, Martha L., and Grace W. Field.
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THOMAS F. WALSH
THOMAS F. WALSH.
WALSH, THOMAS F., mine owner and mining engineer, born at Clonmel, Tip- perary county, Ireland, April 2, 1851, died in Washington, D. C., April 8, 1910, was edu- eated in the common schools of his native county, and then served seven years' ap- prenticeship to a mill-wright, the time re- quired for that trade in Ireland. When nine- teen years of age, he emigrated to this coun- try, first locating in Worcester, Massaehu-
setts, where he worked as a mill-wright for a year. In 1871 he removed to Colorado, and at Golden he entered the employ of the Colo- rado Central Railroad as a bridge builder. In 1873, attracted by the mining outlook of the San Juan region, he went to that seetion of the state, locating at Del Norte, and fol- lowed mining during the winter, returning to Denver in the spring of 1874, and thenee that year, to Central City. In the latter city,
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he erected the principal buildings, at the same time becoming interested in the mines. During the winter of 1875-1876, he was en- gaged in mining in the Black Hills, making his headquarters at Custer City, but followed the rush to Deadwood in 1876, where he made about $100,000. He narrowly missed becoming a half-owner in the rich Homestake mine.
The great Leadville boom caused his re- turn to Colorado in 1878, and in 1879 he became a resident of that new mining camp. He engaged in mining, and also, together with Messrs. Leavick and Daly, purchased the Grand Hotel, which they enlarged and operated. They were also among the first to purchase any large amount of property in that camp. Becoming associated with the Du Bois Brothers, they bought the New York mine in 1879, after which he owned, oper- ated and sold the Shields, Dinero and St. Kevin in Independence district, and engaged in the general mining business, in which he made considerable money. Mr. Walsh, in the meantime, had become a close student of mining as an industry and a science, in- cluding a thorough course of reading in geology, metallurgy, ore deposits and min- eral veins, and the treatment and reduction of the precious metals. About 1891 he in- troduced into Colorado the Austin process for the treatment of ores, which proved espe- cially valuable in the reduction of the prod- ucts of low grade mines. He acquired inter- ests in smelters in Leadville, Kokomo, Silver- ton, and other parts of the state. Later he became interested in the Dean-Ham group of mines and other properties at Cripple Creek, and also a valuable mining group at Rico. In 1896 he discovered the rich Camp- Bird mine, near Ouray, which, with other properties in the immediate locality, devel- oped into a bonanza group that made Mr. Walsh one of the mining millionaires of the West.
In 1899 he refused to accept a nomina- tion for Congress, but continued to take a special interest in the civic, political and so- cial growth and development of the state. In 1900, Mr. Walsh was appointed one of the national commissioners to the Paris Ex- position. During the year he entertained King Leopold, and became interested with him in some extensive enterprises. Mr. Walsh had now taken up his residence in Washington, where he built a costly man- sion, and both he and his family became prominent in the social life of the nation's capital. He received so many urgent re- quests to use his influence in behalf of this state, on many of the measures that come up for consideration, that he was known as
"Colorado's Unofficial Ambassador at Wash- ington." No man in private life was ever more influential in promoting the good of this state at Washington than Thomas F. Walsh.
He was especially interested in the erec- tion of all buildings with modern appliances, that would add to the safety and comfort of the employes at the Camp-Bird mining properties. A library was presented to the City of Ouray by him, the dedication of which was held in 1891. He has served as president of the National Irrigation Con- gress and the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress, and was always a prominent figure in promoting the interests not only of Colo- rado, but the entire Weset. He was kind- hearted and liberal, and especially had a warm heart for the pioneer and old-time prospector, for he, too, had experienced much of the hard life of the West, before fortune came to him. He was in every sense a self- made man, and was a splendid type of those who, amid the busy and exacting scenes of life, may also become the student, and through his own efforts become the scholar and the polished gentleman. He was a mem- ber of the State (Colorado) Humane Society (president), Sons of Colorado (president), American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington Academy of Sciences, National Geographical Society, American As- sociation of Mining Engineers, and member of the executive committee of the Washing- ton (D. C.) Board of Trade; also a member of the following clubs: Denver Club, EI Paso (Colorado Springs) Club, Metropolitan and Cosmos (Washington), and Metropolitan (New York).
Mr. Walsh was also especially interested in the State (Colorado) School of Mines, and through apparatus donated, together with a liberal gift of money, he established at that institution the Vinson Walsh Research Fund for the discovery of radium. as a memorial to his son who lost his life in an automobile accident in 1909. Although Mr. Walsh main- tained a beautiful home at Washington, he purchased Wolhurst, the country seat of the late Senator Edward O. Wolcott, near Den- ver, which he made his summer residence, and rechristened Clonmel, in honor of his native place in Ireland.
He married at Leadville, Colorado, in 1879, Miss Carrie B. Reed. They had two children, Vinson, who died in 1905, and Miss Evelyn, who was married in Edward B., son of John R. McLean, of the Cincinnati En- quirer and the Washington Post. Mr. and Mrs. McLean have one child, a son, Vinson Walsh, born December 18, 1909.
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JAMES HENRY BROWN
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JAMES HENRY BROWN.
BROWN, JAMES HENRY, lawyer, born September 3, 1859, in St. Joseph, Missouri, the son of Henry Cordes (q. v.) and Jane Cory (Thompson) Brown, was brought across the plains in a prairie schooner to Denver by his parents, when about six months old. He re- ceived his early education in the Denver pub- lic schools, and from 1873 to 1877, attended the Northwestern University, at Evanston. He was class president and a member of the Phi Kappa Sigma. While at the university, he was active in base ball and athletics. Re- turning to Denver in June 1877, he entered the law office of Symes & Decker, where he remained two years. September 1, 1879, he was admitted to the bar in Denver and in 1881 practiced before the United States Supreme court. He was the first elective city attorney, 1885-1887. The records show that he found the docket crowded but speedily brought cases to trial, losing but three suits.
In 1890, he was elected on the republican ticket, a member of the house, in the Colo- rado legislature. This was the Eighth Gen- eral Assembly, and had the stormiest record of any in the history of the state. Elected upon a reform ticket, and being a born fighter, Mr. Brown immediately became the leader in that branch of the legislature. There was discontent over the committees appointed by the speaker. Mr. Brown contended against all precedents, that the power to remove the speaker lay with the body of the house, and his views were sustained by the Supreme Court of Colorado. The speaker was deposed and Mr. Brown was appointed chairman of the committee on committees, and made up the list for the permanent committees, which were chosen. During this period of legisla- tive strife, with many sensational features, an appeal was made to Governor Routt, who or- dered the National Guard to be in readiness to maintain order in the General Assembly. This brought about consultations with the governor by the contending factions. Mr. Brown called upon the Governor to ascertain if he had taken the above action and at the same time notified him that any attempt to order out the Guard to interfere with the House as a Legislative body would be at once met by the filing of articles of impeachment against him as Governor, for unlawful interfer- ence with the house as a Sovereign Legislative Body of the state. Nothing further was heard from the troops. Governor Routt
thereafter requested the opinion of the Su- preme Court upon the legality of such action by the house. Upon the handing down of their opinion, quiet and order were restored, and the session adjourned with the enviable record of having enacted into laws all the platform pledges. Mr. Brown was instru- mental in securing the passage of the Austra- lian ballot and registration laws.
During the following two years, he was counsel for the Denver Tramway Company, after which he began his thirteen years' legal fight to protect the interests of his father's and mother's estates, which involved the handling of an indebtedness of over $1,500,000. Upon this one matter, he concentrated his time and effort. With limited financial re- sources, the records show that he stubbornly contested this famous case, against many of the leaders of the Colorado bar. His efforts were rewarded by a settlement and full satis- faction of all indebtedness, that is a splendid tribute to his energy and ability, and a last- ing but well deserved testimonial to the honor of his father.
In 1896 he was chairman of the Colorado delegation to the National Silver Convention at St. Louis.
For a number of years, he was active in the National Guard, and was frequently in com- mand of troops during labor troubles. These disturbances he handled with tact and firm- ness, that brought about settlements without bloodshed. As president of the Denver Athletic Club, he was active in its early or- ganization, and was instrumental in financing the commodious building and quarters, now owned by the club. He is still one of the republican leaders of the state, and is promi- nent in the councils of his party, but the most of his time is occupied in his legal practice. He has the largest individual law library in the state.
An accidental injury, just previous to the Spanish War, prevented Mr. Brown from serving in that war with the Colorado troops.
He is a Knight Templar, Past Potentate of EI Jebel Temple Mystic Shrine, a member of American Bar Association, Colorado State Bar Association, and County Bar Association; Sons of the Revolution, Pioneers Society, Denver Athletic and Country Clubs.
Mr. Brown married Dec. 12, 1884, Mary A., daughter of William Clark, a lawyer and Senator in the N. Y. General Assembly. They have one daughter, Dorothy.
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